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Ip 3'^ '' .•.N^'L^fBER ONE— FIEST SERIES; 



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Bin>t' iHE yiRSV KL'MBifiK Oi" A SKRIES OF i»AMPHMTS IN'l'RWOJiO 
TO ILLUSTRATE Jllll 

PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY 

AND 

PUBLIC LAW 



Entorad according to Act of Conaress, it tae year 1853, 

By WILLIAMJ. CLOWES. 

IB the dork's OMae of the District Court of the United States, io a»d f<>r 

the Southern District of F^w York. 



^C>. 



POUGHKEEPSIF: 



185.'5. 



^o^TW^ft^ i^^^^^^^^^i;^^^ nui«k.r o/ the Earl- 

Xr the at.Be "^^ ^^^^'^^'^^"^^ ^^^^'^ '^^^^^ tln-ee years 

n^- tE^^^^^^^ ^^ ^\ first number, I have, notwithsLnd- 

1 e esfab ishe ] hP ^ ^' '^'i"'', "^ order that a uniformity mav 

S-e and V;?w' '"^^r -^^^^ 1^"^^^'^' ^^'"^^'^ foul additional 

?h?lme ii ni 1 •'^5'''-"' '' '^^^■^^^'^^ ^« itspitronsVith 

havP I, fe ^l^ "^tentions, that its avithor professed to 

yearri850. ''' ' '" ''^ published in the beginning of the 

m^mZi^nl?\r.'^^''^\^i'^ nitcnitons in relation to |niblic 
iXcaS of Zf""''-^''Y' ^f ^rg^^e r.o change since the 
t\lerdn!Z.nl^^^^^^^ ^^"'^^^'^ .T^^ ^'^^ field in which I 

s^nce Zn^n fo^^^^i^^^^ property, spoken oi therein" has 

much to K^ ^.^A Quartei^." A change which, although 
Wfit bvlol^''^*'^' '"^>' '^^^^ be converted into a public 

«r?rffl f/^^^^ ^^^ ^^ preserve any thing h^ke a proper re- 
C&re ^^^ ™f ^entocB of the past, "it is my LtJntio; 
rec«^ ^^'^S'" ,""™^^^;^^' ^^«">bers of my work, to 

York Tho^d ! f HasWck House, in the State of New 
vi ual wl o ,• '"'^-r'^ ^^^^ possession of the private indi- 
hetfiJth. Inr "^' '^'"'"'rh ''' ^'^ ^'^^^^1 bylumandhis 
MnnnfVJ^ "'I^'"'^^'^''^'^^''**^^ recommend that the 

^ThZfr'-r'^''^ ''' \^' ^^^^' ^^^ ^'^^^""^' «^'^^^^<^^ continue 
wl ^ ^^ '^' 1''?^"* ^^g'^^ f'^'"er and his heirs. 

^itTi 'S P^' v\' ^^^^/'^>'"^ged hands, yet it may still be 
purcha ed; but as it has long l,een out t.ho possession of the 
iJe_\\itt family, there can of course be no improimety in pro- 

m -nf ; t '^'' r^']"^ ^''''^'^ ^' ^^^^^^ ^^•>' ^^^ l>ublic,^throli^. 

,^X o f'^'"'.*"''^^^ supporting schools, rccommendld 

n Ue annexed number : it is my intention, therefore, to renew 

^^IJ''''Ta\-'''^ ^¥ public purchase of the Fort' Do Witt 
!hn^ V L.i' '"^''"'^ ^"^ recommend, hovvevei-. that the Stat. 

hlr r^Vr P\'^Terty as it has undei-talvJlH^to' hold the H as- ■ 

oroack House, by an agent, as I consider that the State oi M 

iNew York has no more right to appoint an agent to keen 9 

this house than the State of Maine lias a rigft to apfioint ■ 

agents to sell rum. ■ '■ ■ 



IIAMT^VOOD POLITICIAN. 

NUMBER i. 



In piesenling the first number of the Haitwood Politician ., to the 
public, I had concluded to republish certain articles, which have, within 
a period of two or three months past, appeared in the Newburgh 
Gazette. One of the objects of my proposed work is to offer to tne 
American public some views in relation to the preservation of ancient 
mementoes, and 1 cannot, as far as the same extends, do any better than 
to offer them in the form in which they originally appeared ; and the 
subject of self-supporting schools referred to in these articles, is so much 
connected with the matter that is to close my present number, that I 
feel as if I had no alternative but to reproduce them. In taking my 
own observations from a country paper, I ought not to render myself 
liable to a charge of republication ; for, unfortunately for the country 
at large in these days of telegraphs and penny papers, matters that are 
published by the country press, might as well be considered, so far as 
they affect the busy, bustling part of the community, as not published 
at all ; and I shall therefore feel as little hesitation in offering my re- 
marks to the consideration of the good people of Newburgh and its 
neighborhood, as if nothing of the kind had appeared in any one of 
their papers. In regard to ancient mementoes as they now exist among 
us, all that I would now say is, that although there seems to be a vridely 
extended disposition in our country, to build expensive monuments to 
the memory of departed worth, yet little has appeared, so far as I can 
learn, that regulates or directs the manner by which such disposition 
ought to be gratified. Whoever undertakes to establish correct notions 
upon this subject in our country, will find his work a difficult one, on 
account of there being no acknowledged first principles in existence 
among us, by which the propriety of such matters should be determined. 
A high monument and other much more exceptionable appendages 
to the property known as Washington's Head Quarters in the village 
of Newburgh having been proposed as suitable additions thereto, I 
wrote the following articles in order to give some indication of what I 
considered proper piinciples, that should be applied not only to the 
venerated property spoken of, but also to any other place or property 
in our country that has its time-hallowed associations to recommend it. 
It will be seen by reference to the following numbers, that no very 
favorable opinion has been entertained of a proposed act of our Legis- 



2 HARTWOOD POLITICIAN'. 

lature in relation to Wasbington's Head Quarters in the village of 
Newburgh ; and lest the remarks in relation thereto may be supposed 
to extend to the law enacted since, I have thought proper to observe 
that the proposed act referred to and the one actually passed are essen- 
tially different in some of their provisions ; and that consequently my 
remarks ought not to apply to the act that now^ stands upon our statute 
book. I intend to resume my remarks upon this branch of my subject 
at no distant period, and in the mean time vi'ould present my letters to 
Mr. Callihan, editor of the Newburgh Gazette, on account of their con - 
iiection with the subject of self-supporting schools. 

9* 



Mr. Cali^aiian: — I forward to you a communication relating to a 
subject of importance, not only to the citizens of Newburgh, but to the 
public at large ; and feeling authorised to refer to it as a matter of the 
greatest interest, have ventured to address you under my own name, 
in order to give to the topic under consideration a greater earnestness 
of personal conviction, than would be presented by an anonymous 
correspondent. 

If it is conceded, that anything that refines public manners, that im- 
proves the public taste, that enlivens and invigorates the love of country 
which exists in some degree in the minds of all, is necessarily a subject 
of importance, and should be made a subject of general interest; then 
it will be unnecessary to prove that the deep solicitude which has 
been recently manifested in our State relative the house and grounds 
in your village, known as Washington's Head Quarters, is worthy to 
be directed to its most useful, and at the same time to its most hallowed 
purposes, by every influence which can be made properly to guide the 
feelings of both the prudent and the patriotic. 

In making an estimate of the value and utility of the property in 
question, we are not to be guided by anything which is ever subject 
to the fluctuations of our markets ; for the property can never be made 
the subject of ordinary speculation with any more propriety than the 
tables of the money changers could bo made part and parcel of the 
equipments of the Jewish Temple ; nor can any of its materials com- 
bustible, as some of them are, be made the subject of insurance ; for 
we cannot insure that, which when destroyed,^ can never be replaced, 
or appraise that which no tariff or schedule of prices has any expres- 
sion that gives it a mark of any definite value. 

The property in question has its value in the minds of the whole 
American people ; of increasing importance, because like other sacred 



IIARTWOOD POLITICIAN. 3 

mementoes of the past, that aro sinking from our view, its decaying 
materials become of greater worth, as increasing millions arise around 
us, to appreciate and enjoy it; the people of NewbuTgh located as this 
valuable property is among them, should consider themselves as trus- 
tees for the other part of our people, not only to preserve this property 
unimpaired in appearance, but to preserve its utility to the latest 
generation. 

As an individual who has strongly participated in all the interest 
which has been manifested, not only of late, but for many years past, 
for the preservation of this valuable property j and who is desirous of 
transmitting its utility unimpaired to other times and other days, I have 
transcribed certain observations from an unpublished workof my own, 
which may intimate in some degree, in what way this apparently dilap- 
idated, and to some an altogether useless establishment, may be made 
subservient to the noblest purposes. 

"Any one," says the author, " who has visited Washington's Head 
Quarters, at Newburgh, will remember that the house in itself presents 
one of the rudest of our old forms of domestic architecture ; had it been 
an old tavern or the residence of some person, whom we cared nothing 
about, we should consider it a very foolish thing to make any ado about 
such an old building ; but a solitary and only visitonce made to the place 
some years ago on a lonely summer's afternoon, has convinced us of 
the value there is in old and rude forms, when they are connected with 
old and valued substances ; our imagination we have never considered 
very vivid, as-we have not the least spark of what soma people call 
sentiment, nor is our historical memory by any means the strongest, 
yet the moment that we took our seat under the porch of that old 
house, when all, that ever gave life to the scene, seemed at once to 
start up to our view ; and we are confident while we were there, that 
more images of the past came up before us in an hour, than we could 
have got hold of by a month's reading at any other time ; nor have we 
forgotten in the lapse of time, the vividness of our impressions, and 
seldom it is, that we read, or hear of any person whose position in the 
revolutionary struggle was such, as . to associate him with this 
spot, but he becomes connected in our mind, with that old stone house ; 
the occupant of the house showed us a very plain and a very humblo 
looking old chair, not intrinsically in our estimation, worth eighteen 
pence, that once belonged, as he said, to Lady Washington ; but whe- 
ther the chair was ever dignified by having such an owner or not we 
did not take the trouble to investigate ; but of one thing we are certain, 
that the best picture of old fashioned patriotism, at its domestic altar 
that we know of, is one in which that same old chair, and Lady Wash- 
ington and the Father of his country form the principal traits." 



4 HARTWOOD POLITIAN. 

The above remarks aie quoted from a series of observations of the 
same character, the tendency of which is to show as a matter of private 
concern, how much value there is in every old house, even of the 
rudest workmanship, that has been dignified and adorned by paternal 
and filial affection ; it has its analogies in the public sentiment, so far 
as causes every place in our land that ever has been honored as the 
residence of Washington, to be looked at with all the filial reverence 
that could be extended by the love of a child to a departed parent ; as 
such the property spoken of, should not be connected with any incon- 
gruous accompaniment that prevents the visitor from imagining for a 
season, at least, that he is living in an age far different from the 
bustling world around him. It is therefore suggested, that it would be 
more appropriate to furnish Washington's Head Quarters with the old 
chair and other forms of the kind, that connect it with the day of its 
greatest glory, than to attach to it anything that reminds us of modern 
improvement or invention ; it is suggested also that it would be highly 
consistent with its greatest utility to embower it with evergreens, except 
on the part that looks out on the noble Hudson, and on the everlasting 
hills that bound the prospect, (coeval, we trust with the memory of 
Washington) that thereby the visitor may receive those permanent 
impressions from his visit which can never perhaps be profitably enjoyed, 
unless seclusion or at least silence allows the imagination to renew its 
noblest attributes over a scene which doubtless again and again has met 
the ardent observation of theFather of his country. 

I propose in an additional number to show in what manner the abovo 
intimations may be carried out ; and they will be offered with the full 
knowledge that the property has passed into the possession of the State, 
and that all final action with respect thereto, must be had in another 
place rather than in your village ; there is no doubt, however, that the 
Legislature of the State will look for suggestions and for co-operation 
from the citizens of Newburgh, and the remarks herewith and hereaf- 
ter presented will be offered in no spirit of dictation; but merely to di- 
rect the attention of your citizens towards a proper examination of the 
whole subject, as their voice unquestionably will have its proper influ- 
ence when exerted in a manner which may show the importance of the 
trust, which from all parts, of the State no doubt will be promptly con- 
ceded to them. Respectfully yours, 

"Wm. J. Clowes. 



Mr. Callahan : — In a communication dated the 21st of last month, 
relating to the property in your village, known as the Washington Head 
Quarters, I proposed to seod additional matter, which would show, in 



IIAIITVVOOD rOLlTlCIAN. 



what way, tlio suggeslions previously ofFereJ, could bo practically car- 
ried out; in endeavoring to fill this proposal, "I am aware, that in tho 
discussion of every subject of general interest, there are always too 
many opinions to be consulted, to allow of any hope for a comnfon con- 
currence, in favor of any one measure; and instead of attempting to 
present any suggestions, that may meet the views of all, I shall only 
offer such considerations, as interest those of your inhabitants, who are, 
or ought to be, most deeply interested in the growth and prosperity of 
your place. It may, at first view, be deemed a reflection upon the pa- 
triotism of your place, to present interested considerations, in connec- 
tion with a subject, which of all others, is generally supposed, to have no 
relationship with interested feelings of any kind ; but, knowing as most 
of the readers of yourpaper unquestionably do, that a proper self-interest 
in an individual, is altogether consistent with man's highest duty and 
obligation; on earth, I do not hesitate to connect the welfare of your 
place, and the personal interest of each of its inhabitants, with a subject 
which is commonly presented only in connection with our ideas of the 
most widely extended patriotism. The inhabitants of your place, having 
lived as many of them have done from their infancy, in the vicinity of 
Washington's Head Quarters, cannot from the nature of their mental 
constitution, which they have in common with the rest of mankind, enter- 
tain the same feelings of deep veneration for this property, which others 
may do, who seldom, or but once in their lives have visited it; and in 
forming an estimate of its value, your people ought rather therefore to 
look at the views of others who live at a distance, or refer to senti- 
ments which they themselves entertain, while on a visit to some distant 
part of our country, equally honored as their own, by revolutionary rom- 
nisciences. By this process, I am confident that if every individual of 
mature age, and sound consideration, in your place, was consulted as to 
the manner in which Mount Vernon should be preserved for the bene- 
fit of future generations, he would arrive at a result similar to that which 
I have submitted in my former communication, in respect to Washing- 
ton's Head Quarters in your place. Although too familiar with the 
place, to regard it with the solemnity which persons less accustomed to 
view it, would look at it, your respect for the feelings of others, will 
undoubtedly induce you to clothe it in the venerated forms, with which 
civilized man in every part of the globe, is now accustomed to associate 
with the character and merits of Washington; and if you can make 
youi regard for the feelings and duties of others consistent with your 
interest, I see no reason why you may not profit by your opportunity, 
wheii benefits having no connection with selfishness or injustice, can bo 
made to grow oat of it, My idea of the most valuable kind of Ameri- 
can charity has been and is, that it should be made to pay at least six 



O ilARTVVOOD POLITICIAN. 

per ceiit interest, and I can easily reconcile the best of Newburgh pa. 
triotism with a yearly return of not less than seven per cent, as long as 
the law of our State justifies it, and the object of the investment is equal- 
ly honorable and proper. The most effective mode which I can recom- 
mend for a proper use of the paoperty in question is, to place it in the 
secluded position which has been recommended, and to have no appen- 
dages either in or about the house that would be inconsistent with its 
genuine appearance in the day of its greatest glory ; the expense of this, 
as well as the expense of evergreen trees and shrubbery to surround it, 
on all sides except in front, would be but a trifle. I would then place 
the property in charge of an association or corporation, whose duty it 
should be to connect therewith, a school for the education of young per- 
sons of both sexes, in those arts of design which have been considered 
necessary in every civilized country for the immediate promotion of 
mechanics and architecture, and as auxiliary to the arts of painting and 
sculpture; such a school if worthy of any encouragement at all, ought 
to be made to pay its own way, and could be carried into operation by 
making its first expenses iftto a permanent fund, paying legal interest 
forever : and by making such schools general through our land, and 
connecting their location with scenes of similar interest to those affor- 
ded by Washington's Head Quarters at Newburgh, we cannot fail to 
place American art upon its own natural and legitimate foundation ; 
and instead of exhibiting as we too often do, so many more sickly imi- 
tations of European prototypes that bring neither respect from home or 
attraction from abroad, we could at least show hereafter to the world, 
that we intend to place our claims to a national taste upon the same 
broad ground that we have claimed for ourselves, a national character. 
Boys and girls attached to such an institution, even if not older than 
9 or 10 years of age, could best take their first lessons in their art by 
acting as guides or companions to strangers and others who might be 
induced to visit our most attractive localities ; and in this way with but 
little expense, by combining all in your neighborhood, that might inter- 
est the tourist, with all that is most attractive in your old stone house, 
you might call from abroad hundreds, if not thousands of persons, who, 
without proper facilities being afforded to enable them to visit your 
place, might be forever debarred frorn the advantages which from a 
proper contemplatioti of the sublime and beautiful scenery about you, 
they cannot fail to receive ; how much money, could be brought to 
your place, by a proper use of your advantages, it is unnecessary for me 
to calculate, even if I were capable of doing so ; it certainly would have 
been improper for me to allude to any interested consideration in con- 
nection with the subject before us, if I were not aware that the greatest 
obstacle in the way of Washington's Headquarters being made of fu- 



HAKTWOOD POLITICIAN. 7 

turo benefit to our country, arises from the exiatcnco of a too common 
belief, that the value of patriotism is better known by its sacrifices than 
by its benefits; and on that account when we build up anything which 
is intended to be kept sacred to the memory of departed worth, we 
would rather throw away our money upon some crumbling specimen 
of Egyptian monstrosity or Greecian absurdity, than to make use of 
that, which taste, propriety and utility will always make honorable and 
commendable. It has been my intention for some time past to make 
self-supporting schools the subject of some observations, which I intend 
to place before the public. I have concluded to exhibit one of the 
forms in which a school of this kind could be properly introduced into 
your place, and not only support itself, but carry out another object also 
of equal importance, without the tax of a dollar upon you, either indi- 
vidually or collectively ; there is vacant room enough around the pro- 
perty spoken of to allow of buildings to be erected for schools, without 
in any way interfering with the privacy or seclusion which it has been 
contended, it would be always necessary to keep about the main edifice 
therein ; and it is highly probable that if there was an assurance placed 
before the Legislature thattliis building should always be kept for its 
most proper purpose, that a grant upon this condition would be freely 
given. It is therefore respectfully suggested that an application be 
made to the Legislature of our State, suggesting the propriety of a 
conveyance of the aforesaid property to the corporation of the village of 
Newburgh, to be held by them subject to all the conditions and trusts 
which the importance and value of this property should require at their 
hands. Respectfully yours. 

Win. J. Clowes 



Mr. Callahan : — In a communication (dated the 20th of last 
month,) in relation to Washington's Head Quarters, in your village, I 
proposed that this property should be placed in the hands of an asso- 
ciation or corporation, whose duty it should be to connect therewith, a 
school for the instruction of young persons, of both sexes, in the vari- 
ous arts of design, which are connected with mechanics, architecture, 
painting and sculpture. I suggested also, that such school could be 
made to support itself; and not only pay its own expensos, but also a 
yearly interest upon the principal cost of the property, wherein it should 
be located ; and I would now give an outline of the manner in which 
such institution could be carried into effect according to the plan pro- 
posed. 

Before setting forth this plan, I would observe that I have just read the 
draft of a law proposed for legislative enactment in relation to tho 
subjects treated of, in one of the branches of tho Logislaturo 



8 HAUTWOOD rOLlTlCIAK. 

of our Stale; aiul believing that the views taken by ihe proposer of 
the law, are altogether inconsistent with the main object, intended to 
be secured by its preservation, I feel it my duty to intimate in what 
way, these views are erroneous ; we want, in my estimation, the old 
house, and its old furniture, and notiiing else; for any intermixture of 
modern art or improvement with the substantial relics of the past, 
would give such an air of absurdity to the whole, that I believe every 
person of true taste, in our country, would rather see the whole build- 
ing completely demolished, than to see it accompanied with the altera- 
tions and additions recommended in the proposed law. In addition to 
a high monument, I have heard that an iron railing to surround the 
ground, has also been proposed ; a rough stone wall in my opinion 
would be preferable, as it would be more in keeping with the building 
than any other kind of fence ; and this addition together with the 
enclosure of evergreens as recommended in my former communica- 
tions, is about all the ornament that should be allowed upon the grounds. 
For the same reasons that I would condemn any incongruous addition, 
I would recommend the removal of all fancy paper, or other additions 
lo the interior of the building, that was not there at the time of the 
Revolution; the appearance of the walls and ceiling as they existed 
when occupied by Washington should be restored as far as it is possible 
now to be done. Association and imagination, being the qualities of 
the mind which are addressed by these remains of the past, he who 
visits this house, and carries nothing better with him to furnish it, than 
can be provided by a modern paint shop, or furniture store, would do 
much better to have remained at home ; for he can receive no good 
from his visit, and is only in the way of those who are desirous of pro- 
fiting by the few objects of antiquity that yet remain among us. 

My views, in relation to the old houses of our country, have taken 
Iheir bent from the studies of past years, connected with the subject of 
American architecture. I have come to the opinion, that nothing will 
give to our national taste, its true direction, but to cultivate a disposi- 
tion to preserve the mementoes of the past ; and to show definitely, in 
what why my suggestions may be practically, and I hope profitably 
adopted by your citizens, I would state, that about thirty-five miles 
west from the village of Newburgh, as the road runs, there is a 
point, as may be seen from the map of Orange and Sullivan Counties, 
where a vast trade from the vallies of the Mongaup and Neversink 
rivers can be made to centre; the farm upon which the point of inter- 
section occurs, is a farm known as the Fort DeWitt Farm ; and inde- 
pendently of its value, on account of the business which may be done 
upon it, it has associations connected with the French, and Revolu- 
tionary wars, that alone make it a place of great interest. These 



IIARTVVOOIJ POLITICIAN. 



subjects arc troalcd of, in llic history of Orango County, published by 
Mr. Eager, your present Post Master. Mr. Eager states, that the old 
stone house, on this property, was the birth-place of De Witt Clinton ; 
and such I know has been the uniform belief in my own neighborhood, 
among our oldest inhabitants, for many years ; there arc, however, two 
other places in Orange County, which h:ive been claimed as the birth- 
place of this distinguished individual, but which is the true one I would 
not at this time attempt to decide ; if the facts, however, as set forth by 
Mr. Eager's History, and corroborated by everybody in the neighbor- 
hood of the Fort De Witt farm, arc not true, as regards the birth-placo 
of De Witt Clinton, we certainly ought, at no time, to dejoend upon 
the truth of traditionary history. The building spoken of, from its 
substantial character, is no mean emblem of Gov. Clinton's fame, and 
may, with an occasional new roof, and a proper regard for its preser- 
vation, continue to exist for the next thousand years, in as good a con- 
dition as it has been for the last hundred ; the present building was put 
up during, or shortly after, the French war ; the first floor being sup- 
ported by charred beams, which are remains of the old block house, or 
fort, burned by the Indians, during that war. This property, together 
with the Hasbrouck House, I would recommend should be placed in the 
charge of one person, who, with his successors, should bo a trustee, or 
corporation sole, to manage the property and conduct the several bran- 
ches of business, which ought to be connected with it, in order to make 
the whole a self-supporting institution. The fee of the property might 
remain in the state, or in the persons who should advance the means for 
the purchase thereof; or, it could be conveyed in fee to the corporation 
or trustee, subject to the condition of paying a yearly sum thereon, 
which should be equivalent to the legal state interest. I would prefer 
(subject to the strictest scrutiny and accountability to a permanent 
board of visitors,) that the managing head of such institution, should be 
but one person ; as by that means, I would remove all grounds for 
mismanagement, growing out of the kind of divided authority, which 
too often mars the efficiency of many of our joint stock associations ; it 
being my intention to make the subject of self-supporting schools the 
ground of an application to the Congress of the United States, I do not 
consider it, at the present time, necessary to set forth the particular 
details by which the property herein referred to, can be made as effect- 
ive for the purposes intended as I have intimated ; to the application I 
am about to make, I would, however, respectfully ask the attention of 
such of the inhabitants of Newburgh, as have leisure to examine its 
merits, as I am confident that a deliberate examination on their part 
will amply repay them for the time which they may give to the subject ; 
inasmuch as the plans proposed for their particular consideration will 



10 HART WOOD POLITICIAN. 

extend not only to the means by which the venerated properties re- 
ferred to, can be best preserved, and to means by which self-support- 
ing schools can be extensively adopted, but may be made to extend to 
a cheap and effective system of internal communication with the whole 
country west of them; the cost of such means of communication being 
much less, and the utility much greater, than can be ever afforded by 
the now much praised system of plank roads. Respectfully yours, 

W.J.CLOWES. 



Mr. Callahan : In my last communication in relation to Washing- 
ton's Head Quarters, in your village, I stated that it was my intention 
to make the subject of self-supporting schools the ground of an appli- 
cation to Congress ; in part fulfilment of my intention, I have forwarded 
an application to the member of Congress from this district, for an en- 
quiry to be made concerning certain improved modes of building, 
which I am desirous of submitting to the consideration of that body and 
the public at large. I have not alluded in this application to the con- 
nection which exists between these subjects, and the kind of schools to 
■which reference has been made, as I supposed, that it was sufficient for 
the purpose of securing attention to the suggested improvements, to 
State their immediate advantages, without going into a detail of benefits, 
which might be considered as incidental and prospective only. I in- 
tend, however, to carry my application far enough to make it fully con- 
sistent with the purpose already expressed ; and in order to accomplish 
this end, have concluded to publish a series of essays, in which the 
subject of self supporting schools and other subjects of like utility, will 
be examined at sufficient length to give not only Congress, but the 
whole country, if they wish it, ample opportunity of judging of therr 
merits and efficiency. I have made the above remarks on account of 
my having requested, in the communication referred to, that the atten- 
tion of a portion of the inhabitants of Newburgh should be given to- 
wards my proposed application j to enable them more fully to comply 
with the request, in a manner which will enable them to decide whether 
any of my propositions can be made to tend to their benefit, I shall 
publish in the first number of the proposed series, the memorial or pe- 
tition upon which my application is at present founded ; and shall then 
offer such practical suggestions as I consider most applicable to the 
condition of Newburgh and its neighborhood. 

I send you the prospectus of my proposed work, which I would thank 
you to publish with this communication. Respectfully yours, 

W. J. CLOWES. 



PROSPECTUS OF THE HARTWOOD POLITICIAN. 

The subscilber having recently made an application to Congress concerning certain im- 
provements in building, which he hasfor several years past been employed in maturing, has 
thought it necessary to set forth to the public, the reasons and objects which have induced 
him to make such application ; and for that purpose has concluded to commence the pub- 
lication of a series of tracts or pamphlets under the name of the Hartwood Politician. 
This designation has been assumed because it gives the subscriber's residence, and 
indicates also that the important subject of political economy, will form the basis of the 
proposed v/ork ; it is intended after the publication of a few numbers, to convert the 
work into a monthly periodical, and in anticipation that the public will approve of such a 
course the subscriber intends to put his first essays in the garb of a periodical although 
not strictly entitled in the outset, to appear in that character. 

The proposed works will have nothing to do with atiy abstract or abstruse science ; the 
subscriber wishing in the first place, to induce a belief that his mechanical and mathe- 
matical suggestions, are worthy of all the attention that he has claimed for them ; and 
in the secoflB place to make this belief when attained, of praciicnl advantage to the 
public by putting into mimediate operation, every thing in the way of invention which he 
has at any time proposed to do. The above mentioned application to Congress, pro- 
poses to exhibit for examination certain modes of building, by which fire proof houses, ships 
and other vessels, railroads and their appurtenances, can be beUer and much more cljcaply 
built than by any plans or systems now in use ; it also proposes to exhibit a means of 
engineering and mathematical calcutaiion, equally cheap and effective in Us way, for all 
purposes 'of railroad surveying, or for the execution of architectural and naval designs ; 
the main design in setting'forth these things for the consideration of Congress is to exhibit 
to that body, as well as to our country at large, a means by which that clause in our 
general constitution, which authorizes the establishment of post offices and post roads, 
can be cheaply and yet most extensively carried into execution without increasing the 
duties or responsibility of the general government or infringing in any manner upon the 
rights or powers of the several states. The ways and means by which this may be 
accomplished, will be briefly illustrated in the first number of the projected work. 

Partof the means which will be recommended for the above purpose will consist of a 
system of self supporting schools. This system, if established, will proceed from opinions 
long entertained that the women of our country should have more to say and much more to 
do, with all our modes of education, than our laws and customs will now permit ; and that 
justice and humanity require that we should consult the feelings of our children oftener 
than we do, before we subject them to any course of discipline to which stern necessity 
rather than their will makes them obedient. The attention of women of all ages and of 
children ten years of agejand upwards, is therefore particularly requested, towards self 
supporting schools, as by ihem it may be seen that the business of education now so for- 
midable, may become a matter not worth talking about, when it gets into the hands o*^ 
those whose main business in life it is to give and to receive instiuction. 

The numbers will be sold at twelve and a half cents each ; and subscriptions will be 
asked only for the first of the series, as it is presumed that the practical character of the 
matter set forth in this number, will secure the continuance of the work without farther 
solicitation. WILLIAM J.CLOWES. 

Hartwood, N.Y. April 6th, 1350. . 



12 



HAuTWOOU rui>ii*uiAiN. 



The memorial referred to is as follows : 
To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives. 
The memorial of the undersigned, an inhabitant of the town of For- 
estburgh, in the county of Sullivan, and State of New York, respectfully 

represents: 

That he has for many years been engaged in the manufacture of 
building timber, and has been led by the nature of his business, and 
die facilities afforded by a long residence in a timbered country, to 
devote much of his time to a close investigation of the nature and 
properties of wood ; and^ that he has by an extended series of practical 
tests, arrived at certain conclusions with respect to timber, and other 
building materials, which, on account of their connection, as be has 
been led to suppose with the public welfare, he feels it to be his duty 
to proBont to the consideration of your honorable body. 

That your memorialist believes that with respect to durability, effici- 
ency and expense, a great improvement in all kinds of buildings in 
which wood or timber composes a principal part, can be effected by 
the substitution of small timber in the place of large; that iimbcr of 
large size, besides its other disadvantages, being very liable to bo 
affected by an incipient concealed rot, which often escapes the most 
practiced scrutiny, your memorialist considers it not only necessary 
that small timbers should be brought into general use, but that the 
business of getting out the same in tho forest should be confined to 
persons whoso knowledge of wood will allow them, not only to select 
that which is sound, but also to adapt it to the particular use for 
which it is known to be of the most value. 

That your memorialist is of opinion that by a proper selection and 
use of small timber, that ships and other vessels, houses, railroads, 
docks and bridges can be built much stronger and much cheaper than 
by the ordinary modes ; and in order to show tho correctness of this 
opinion, he proposes to submit to the examination of a committee to 
bo appointed by your honorable body, three several plans or modes of 
building, by which the great advantages of small timber over timbers 
of iargesize, can as he believes be clearly exhibited. 

The first is a mode by which fire-proof buildings, both for city and 
country, can be built at a general expense not exceeding one half 
required by our present system of peiishable and combustible erec- 
tions. The advantages of this mode of building arise mainly from the 
email pieces of wood and timber composing the floors and roof, being 
covered and buried in earthy matters or cement, while in a soft and 
plastic state ; and when such soft matter becomes hard and dry, and 
forms with the wood and its fastenings, one solid mass of material, 
the surface thereof is then hardened in such way as will best adapt it 



IIAUTWOOD POLITCIAN. IS 

to tliG peculiar use or wear which is to be applied to it; by subeiituling 
iron in the place of the wood used according to the above plan, secur- 
ity against robbery as well as against fire can also bo made certain. 

Tiie second is a mode by which a railway of small pieces of timber, 
compacted together in a manner that removes almost all tendency to 
jar or vibration, can be made a means of public- communication 
through our country, at an expense not exceeding tliat of our ordinary 
highways. The cars adapted to this kind of railway being made to 
turn upon short curves, the expense of grading therefor, compared to 
that required for other railroads, need be but small. By means of a 
rope set in motior^by water or other stationary power, a cheap and at 
the same time a rapid transportation of passengers and light freight 
can be safely secured, by the use of light and elastic cars, on easy 
grades, on this kind of railway : heavy grades and heavy loads requiro 
a motion that should not, in order to be safe, exceed four or five miles 
an hour. It is purposed to harden the wooden rail, by a coating which 
appears to be effective for the purpose ; but short iron plates, if re- 
quired, can be secured upon this kind of rail by means of iron straps, 
which will allow of nothing like the expense and danger that occur 
from the common practice of securing rails by iron spikes driven inta 
the cross lies of the road. 

The third is a plan or arrangement of small pieces of wood and 
timber, by which the material of ships or other vessels may be made 
into a compacted mass, not likely to be broken asunder by ordinary 
obstructions. This plan will easily allow of an improvement very ne- 
cessary for the safety of vessels of every class, by which any vessel 
liable by any casualty to have a hole stove through her bottom or bide,, 
may bo divided into a series of apartments in such manner, that if the 
water bursts into one, the safety of the whole may not be endangered. 
This plan will also provide a safe sea vessel, requiring but a light 
draught of water; and in steamers, or in other vessels using steam a& 
an auxiliary to navigation, a propeller can be exhibited, which, it is 
believed, on account of its simplicity and efficacy, will afford an instru- 
ment of navigation long wished for by practical ship builders. 

In presenting the above modes of building for the consideration of 
your honorable body, your memorialist would respectfully ask, that they 
should be examined in connection with the advantages of a system of 
engineering, and mathematical calculation, that has been put in prac- 
tice by himself. The value of this system can be best exhibited by its 
practical adaptation to the three several modes of building above re- 
ferred to, as by it, as he believes, rail road surveys, architectural and 
naval designs, can bo more rapidly, cheaply and effectively executed> 
than by any other system now in use. 



14 ■ llARTWOOD POLITICIAN. 

That your memorialist would further represent that he is a native 
citizen of the United States, and has thought it was his duty, aftei 
maturing' the above subjects, to present them first to the consideration 
of the government of his own country in preference to that of any 
other power; that entertaining an opinion that ihe important charac- 
ter of these subjects would warrant the special examination which he 
seeks for, your memorialist would respectfully ask that a committee of 
your honorable'body be appointed to enquire concerning their practi- 
cal utility; and if sufficient evidence shall bo found to warrant their 
encouragement, to take such steps in relation thereto, as will best 
extend their advantages to our country at large ; and your memorial- 
ist will ever pray, &c. WM. J. CLOWES. 



Although I have forwarded an application to Congress, of which the 
above is a copy, I am not sanguine enough to believe that much atten- 
tion will be given thereto, unless connected with some greater in- 
ducement than is presented by the application alone. As negative 
testimony in one's own favor is sometimes belter than positive, I would 
observe that the several matters submitted as above, to the consideration 
of Congress and the public, do not proceed from any one of the numer- 
ous projectors, schemers, and inventors, that for no apparently useful 
purpose, daily crowd the steps of the Patent office, or fill the columns 
of our scientific journals ; that during a large portion of my life, I have 
been surrounded by materials similar to those which compose the main 
partof our buildings ; and that since my residence in the forest, I have had 
more leisure and opportunity for examining the several subjects with 
which I profess to be somewhat acquainted, than usually falls to the lot 
of those that are called scientific men. I would further mention that I 
have at no time of my life, been engaged in any speculative enterpises, 
as all the works with which I have been employed, have either had 
some practical object in view, or have been connected with some busi- 
ness or property, of which I have been in possession or called to take 
the charge. 

I mention these circumstances, as upon them I ground my chief claims 
for public attention : for although they present no positive evidence in 
support of any thing I offer, yet they will show that T have been kept 
out of the way of mechanical and other similar infatuations that pre- 
vail throughout our country to an injurious and alarming extent; and 
am theiefore able, as soon as proper encouragement is afforded me, to 



IIAKTWOOn rOLlTJCIAN. 15 

put in immediate and successful operation all that 1 have at any lime 
suggested for public or private entcrpiise. 

In making the above remarks, to clear myself of the absurdity which 
undoubtedly will be brought against me, I do not feel disposed, in any 
manner, to conciliate the favor of those most disposed to bring the 
charge, by offering one word in favor of the many absurd and fantastic 
projects and speculations with which our country has for a few years past 
been disgraced : I say disgraced, because I consider this result has oc- 
curred, in every case where there has been a loss of capital upon any of 
our public works, or where any work cither public or private fails to 
promote the object for which it is constructed. I would therefore un- 
hesitatingly denounce any capitalist, financier, or engineer, as unfit for 
public employment, and as abusing the special trust reposed in him, 
who incurs the loss of a dollar, either in principal or in interest, or con- 
structs any work which is not strictly consistent with the public utility. 
Upon this footing and according to this principle, I would offer all the 
projects which I have presented either for public or private consideration, 
for not one of them, however extensiv^e the whole may be, need be made 
liable to the loss of a single dollar, either in principal or interest, or 
made subservient to any other policy, than that which conforms direct- 
ly to the public good. 

I may perhaps be told that my propositions are impracticable, be- 
cause the experience of the past shows that they cannot be accomplish- 
ed; and I would therefore answer, that our public funds, our public 
institutions and our public works afford no evidence that the persons 
who conduct them know anything about the principles by which they 
ought to be conducted ; for until proper principles are established 
among us, that are acknowledged to come from the source of all 
authority and power, our movements, both public and private, will be 
as uncertain and inconsistent as the wind that blows ; and we can ex- 
pect nothing less than the loss, the ruin and premature decay that 
seem now to fall so often upon everything of a public nature about 
us. If any man of presumed good character among us, will assert that 
there are no such principles to be depended upon, with the certainty 
that I have asserted, I should be pleased to join issue with him, and 
show by his individual example the correctness of my assumptions ; for 
as false principles always lead to foolish or wicked conduct, I have no 
doubt that my opponent, from the position that he takes, will exhibit 
the same kind of relationship between his principles and his practice, 
as is too often exhibited between the principles and practice of those 
who are engaged upon our public works. 

In offering the above remarks, I would not assume any infallibility 
not common to our nature; but only alludo to tho course of general 



IG IIARTWOOD rOLITICIAN. 

conduct by which every man must stand or fall in the community of 
which he forms a part. Of my individual errors or mistakes, it is not 
necessary for the public to take cognizance, and I therefore would not 
intimate that I have any personal grievances or private rights to avenge 
or to contend for. All that I would offer, until assaulted in a way that 
would render personal defence necessary, will be in connection with 
the public measures and objects, which I have endeavored to introduce 
lo public consideration and patronage. Commencing with propositions 
for the public good made before I was of age, and extending at least 
twenty years afterwards, there will, 1 am confident, be nothing found 
among all that I have proposed, that I now should hesitate to republish. 
Of my earliest written productions which I have in my possession, I shall 
probably select and publish some portions for no other reason than 
that they are as well matured as any that my riper years could have 
accomplished. Of my other writings, if any person into whose hands 
these pages should fall should have apart, I should be pleased that he 
would send them again to mo; for it may save me from much labor 
and thought, that I might expend in attempting to repeat them, and not 
do as well as I had already done. If, however, any person having my 
letters or writings in his possession, thinks them deserving of ridicule 
or contempt, he is at liberty to publish them, provided he publish them 
fairly and without curtailment ; but T would rather publish my own 
writings myself, if any of them were of interest enough to connect with 
my present work, and would cheerfully pay the postage upon any man- 
uscript of my own that shall be forwarded me. 

I have made the above remarks in order to intimate that I have been 
long engaged upon the subjects which are now referred to public atten- 
tion ; and have also endeavored to induce many persons engaged in va- 
rious branches of business to lend me their co-operation. I have copied 
the following communication from the American Artisan, of New York, 
in order to show the progress which I had made in my plans of build, 
ing, more than four years since. Previous to the publication of the 
communication which was about two years since, 1 had made an ar- 
rangement with the editor of the Artisan for a commencement of the 
Hartwood Politician in his paper; but no attention being given to my 
proposals by those most interested therein, I felt no interest towards 
continuing my connection with tho Artisan, and my remarks were on 
that account shortly thereafter discontinued. 

The communication being my own, I have thought proper, as may 
be seen, not only to amend the typographical errors of the original, but 
also to alter the structure of some of the sentences, as far as the same 
could bo done without altering the original moaning. 



HAIXI'WOOD P0LHIC1A.\. 17 



TO CARPENTERS AND MASONS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 

Ill iho last number of tlio Artisan, I intimated that it was my inteur 
tion to exhibit to the public a series of improvements, which had, in 
part, been tested at my place of residence. I have been induced to 
assume the heading of " Hartwood Politician" in the commoncemont 
of my projposcd observations, as it gives the location of their authorship, 
and indicates that the remarks offered under this head will be extend- 
ed to subjects of more importance in the science of political economy, 
than is usually presented in mechanical or scientific journals. This 
heading, also, will indicate the source from which these articles pro- 
ceed, without rendering it necessary hereafter to attach the author's 
name thereto. 

The principal object at present sought to be gained by the publica- 
tion of my first numbers, is to secure the attention of a few practical 
mechanics toward the most obvious of these improvements, as they 
can, by results brouglit about by their own hands, assure themselves, 
with more certainty of tho coirectness of the principles upon which 
all those improvements are based, than can be afforded by tho most 
flattering testimonials of any scientific association, I have addressed 
this number to Carpenters and Masons of New York, as they are par- 
ticularly interested in that part of my course of improvements, which 
gives a plan for fire-proof buildings. I would say to them that there 
is sufiicient evidence already in existence, to prove tho correctness of 
all I have asserted, relative to this mode of building ; sufiicient, it 
might be supposed, to induce at least half a dozen carpenters and 
masons to join together and make what they might consider a fair 
experiment; a carpenter's shop, which all the combustible matter 
that usually abounds on such premises would not endanger, could be 
built in a short time, and a heavy pile of lumber could bo put on the 
top thereof without risking its stability. If this eouKl be done, it might 
bo safely inferred that there was at least one mode in tho city by 
which buildings could be made both strong and incombustible at one 
half the cost novv' expended upon the perishable structures around us. 
Mechanics who are desirous of investigating this subject farther, with 
a view to their own interest as well as the good of the public, may 
learn the mode in which tho necessary experiments may be conducted 
by applying to Mr. Fleet, Editor of the Artisan, at his offico, 102 
Nassau street. To show that tho subject has been familiar with mo 
for some years past, I subjoin part of a comraunication intended for a 
building association in the city of New- York; the plan, though drawn 
more than two years since, will yet exhibit tho mode in which 150 



18 IIAUTWOOU POLITICIAN. 

families can be provided with comfortable dwellings on a plot of 
ground not exceeding eight New York or Brooklyn building lots. I 
should be willing to join any association of respectable individuals, for 
the purpose of building such an establishment, and have no doubt that 
the many advantages of the plan will give it sufficient respectability of 
character to overcome any reluctance which may be entertained 
against it, on account of its presumed cheapness. The building ought 
to belong to those that occupy it, and the right to lease and transfer 
the several dwellings therein can be made as effective as if each apart- 
ment had a separate building lot to itself. In the plan connected with 
the communication alluded to, there is represented in the upper story 
two large corridors or galleries, containing each about 3200 square 
feet, which being divided into two apartments, will afford each of the 
sexes their separate place for amusement or exercise. In addition to 
this are about 6000 feet of terrace roof, where, in fair weather, the in- 
habitants may promenade to their heart's content. The other advan- 
tages, besides cheapness and incombustibility, may be briefly shown 
under the following heads, as set forth in the above mentioned com- 
munication. 

1. A complete system of ventilation, which may be regulated by 
each family to suit itself. 

2. A full separation of each family after it closes its front door from 
every olhiar in the establishment, and that under circumstances which 
allow of allaecessary accommodations for domestic comfort within its 
own walls, without interfering or being interfered with by their 
neighbors. 

3. The beds in the different apartments may be made cool and com- 
fortable by the separate ventilation to which they are exposed as soon 
as turned up to their places ; and thus the heat of the rooms during 
the day will not affect the beds when turned down to their places at 
night. 

4. The system of privies is suspended by the use of an article called 
an Indispensable, which , besides a water closet, has awash stand, 
shower bath, and sufficient room for robing and disrobing; the close 
Btool therein is so much separated from the other parts of the estab- 
lishment as to prevent all possibility of noisome exhalations therefrom. 

5. Any family requiring a double set of apartments can have their 
additional room also, to themselves, by taking away a temporary parti- 
tion in the rear of the two front doors at the head of each stair-way. 

6. The plan of stairways being made so as to allow them to be con- 
structed wider and more airy than are allowed in city dwellings of any 
class, the convenience of access to the several flats is greater, than by 
the usual mode of getting^ up city stairs ; no staircase by the above plan 



HARTVVOOD POLITICIAN. 19 

will bo less llinn four feet wide, and no passage less than eight feet. 
The passages and stairs would bo all well lighted. 

W. J. CLOWES. 



At the time that the above communication was addressed to the car- 
penters and masons of the city of New-York, I had very little expecta- 
tion that a single person, engaged in either of those branches of busi- 
ness, would respond to my invitation, and investigate my mode of 
building cheap and durable fire proof houses ; the communication was 
rather to the theoretical carpenters and masons, who abound in every 
city and village ; and who, although they know nothing about the bu- 
siness of building, generally contrive to get the whole control of it to 
themselves. Of the architects, carpenters, masons and other mechanics, 
with whom I am acquainted both in city and country, 1 am able to 
speak in general, with the utmost respect ; but of their work, or 
rather the result of their work, I can speak in no terms of commen- 
dation. Taking the hundreds and thousands of flimsy erections 
which have recently been put up in tho city of New- York, as a 
specimen of American workmanship, we must all admit that the art of 
building is in a very poor condition in our country ; and that foreigners 
who read our newspapers must also believe that such is the case, from 
the number of buildings, especially factories and warehouses, that fall 
to the ground, from no apparent cause, but from the dead weight of tho 
materials ()f which they are composed. When a building falls down in 
the city of New-York, and buries a few Irish voters under its ruins, 
there is a great out-cry for a time, not only on the part of the wives 
and children of the unfortunate victims, but also on the part of the press, 
which is sometimes so violent in its grief, as to wish almost every body 
hung that ever had a hand in putting up these murderous man traps. The 
storm soon blows over however, and the coroner's verdict, that nobody 
is to blame, is soon acquiesced in by the public ; the truth is, every body 
is to blame for such results, who allows a miserable system like that 
used in the city of New- York, to stand one day longer without his 
earnest condemnation and active hostility : every body ought to be satis- 
fied of the pernicious evils thereof, for every body is really interested, 
for should a slight shock of an earthquake ever take place in the city, 
these buildings which can scarcely now stand, with their own weight, 
will be falling by tho thousand. 

Having personally addressed myself heretofore to theoretical car- 
penters and masons without much effect, I intend hereafter, in the 



20 HARTWOOD POLITICIAN. 

HartwooJ Politician, to direct myself to them through real mechanics, 
and shall request the assistance of the latter in putting some questions 
to their opponents which I think will induce them to quit their busi- 
ness ; for I am confident, that as soon as these theoretical, or rather 
speculating, gentiy find that the people are not only bold enough to 
question them about their misdoings, but to hang them too, if they 
deserve it, they will feel inclined to quit a business which not only 
brings disgrace upon our cities, but death in various forms and 
shapes. Were it not for the pest and presumption of pretended sci- 
ence, and of wicked and detestable speculation, I am confident we 
should not bo called upon to witness these things ; and I therefore 
feel it my duty to raise my voice against them. There is no more ex- 
cuse for loss of lives under ordinary circumstances, when a building 
falls in New York, than there would be for a life lost by some one 
firing a loaded musket at random in the streets; the ball may hit 
somebody, or it may not j but if it does not, the man discharging the 
piece ought to be hung for his crime just as much as if his wickedness 
was fatal ; and a building put up according to certain New York 
patterns, may fall on somebody and kill him, or it may not ; it is the 
dangerous act of putting up such erections that constitutes the guilt, 
and should be punished immediately on commission, whether attended 
with fatal consequences or not; for in waiting for a building to fall, 
and kill its victims before the criminal builder can be tried and pun- 
ished, we lose all chance for finding the guilty ; and the verdict ought 
to be what it generally is, that there is nobody to blamo. 

In addition to the advantages already published in relation to my 
proposed modes of building, there is another which I would now advert 
to as of more importance, than even their quality of being fire proof. 
In all dwellings which are now built, there are no means provided to 
exclude dampness, or prevent infection from being introduced into the 
walls. Dampness, by the proposed modes, is entirely prevented ; for, 
there being no material composing any part of the house that is an 
absorbent, there can be no tendency to collect moisture, either from the 
atmosphere by exposure thereto, or from the ground, by capillary at- 
traction. In all dwellings that are now put up, the materials, such as 
fitone, wood, lime and brick, are all absorbents, and will attract mois- 
ture from the air and the ground ; and there is very little chance for 
remedying this evil in a house as at present built, except by keeping 
the apartments dry by means of stoves or fires. The most fatal evil 
that results from the present mode of building arises, no doubt, from 
the liability of the walls of a house to receive and retain infectious 
matter, which nothing will remove except frost or some disinfecting 
agent; but according to the mode which I have suggested, the mate- 



HAUTWOOD rOT.ITICIAN. 21 

toiials of ihc whole house being non-absorbont, and llic external coating 
thereof being hardened by a bituminous preparation, there is less lia- 
bility for miasma ov any infectious matter, to penetrate any pait, of the 
walls or floors of a house, than if the whole was composed of solid 
iron. For hospitals, for buildings in warm and moist situations, this 
plan is therefore of the utmost importance, and it is presumed if its 
merits were once allowed to be tested, that the system would thereafter 
be considered as indispensable. 

With respect to my plan of railroads, I would say in addition to what is 
already said in my application to Congress, that I am unwilling to sub- 
mit this mode to the consideration of ordinary engineers ; for although 
I respect the character and conduct of all of them, much more than I 
do their immediate employers, yet it would be as appropriate to submit 
a question of law to a shoemaker, merely because he sits upon a bench, 
as to submit the wooden railroad system to the decision of ordinary rail- 
road engineers or directors, who have never had any ojiportunity of 
learning anything about the nature and qualities of wood ; the only 
things necessary to be decided in respect to this improvement are, first : 
whether the railway is likely to be permanent, without flaw or fracture, 
for all purposes to which it is to be apjjlied : this question can best be 
answered by persons who know that pieces of wood can be so firmly 
put together, by fastenings of wood alone, as to allow no ordinary jar 
or vibration to separate them, and cannot be answered by persons who 
know nothing about such matters. The second is, whether the rails, 
subjected to the action of the wheels, and their flanges, will wear long 
enough to pay the cost of laying them down : this can be answered by 
saying that the rails, instead of being cut, or worn by the wheels to be 
used, will rather be smoothed and polished by them ; and that with the 
kind of car and car-wheel referred to in my application, there is no 
doubt that a wooden railway with a light and divided traffic upon it, 
will last as long as an iron one does, under the concentrated weight of 
the locomotive which it is now considered necessary to put upon it. If 
these questions as to wooden rails can be satisfactorily answered, there 
can be no doubt that the mails, the freight and passengers of the world 
can be carried as rapidly and far more cheaply and safely by this con- 
veyance than by any other mode of land carriage in use. 

The mode by which this system could be adopted in the United 
States, would be for Congress under its authority to establish post- 
oilices and post routes, to organize institutions for tlio purpose of car- 
rying the mails both by land and water thro'out the Union ; at the same 
time authority could be given to the district courts to appoint commis- 
sioners to lay out mail routes. The expense of laying out these routes 
ought not to bo more than ihat necessary for common highways. The 



22 IIARTVVOOD POLITICIAN. 

business of lelegrapliing under ibo direction of the General Post-office 
Department, might be placed also in charge of the same institutions. 
It may be supposed that by reason of my residence in the woods, I 
cannot be very conversant with cither the theory or the practice of 
building ships or vessels. With theory I hope 1 may never be ac- 
quainted, for I believe that such knowledge is worse than useless : fot 
what real benefit to mankind has ever arisen from the vast floods of 
nautical dissertations that the science of Europe has spread over the 
world 1 As to practice, although not now living on the seaboard, I am 
at no great distance in the interior ; and although we have no ships or 
large craft among us, yet I defy the world to produce stronger boats 
than some of the people in the wooden world in which I live can put 
together. Our Sullivan county coast is a very rocky bound one, as al- 
most every body knows; yet we have no breakers on our shores, for 
the reason that our boats never break to pieces (ipon them ; our boats 
being made so strong that their bottoms are generally worn out by 
striking against the rocks, before they begin to leak. I allude to the 
stone boats oi drags in use in our country, for hauling stone, and have 
brought. them forward in order to show that the principle by which they 
are fastened together can be made effective towards fastening larger 
vessels. There is no iron in the smaller vessel, nor ought there to be 
much in the larger ; for it is owing, in my opinion, to the superabun- 
dance of iron, as it exists in the shape of large bolts, bars and braces, 
that causes many a vessel to go to the bottom much sooner than if wood 
alone for the main fastenings was used. I believe that wood was in- 
tended by Providence to carry man from coast to coast, and that the 
materials of which ships were built in ancient times, would be much 
better, if now used, than anything that proceeds from modern science 
in modern days. 

To prevent any improper inference arising from my present resi- 
dence, I would observe, that although I have- lived many years in the 
woods of Sullivan County, I have passed some years also upon Long 
Island, of which I am a native, and have spent much of my time on its 
Atlantic coast ; I therefore have had some chance for knowing that 
there is great room for improvement, both in the building and in the 
navigation of vessels. Among the marine disasters, of which I have 
been a witness, the loss of the Mexico, which occurred in the winter 
of 1836 and 1837, has been the most prominent, and has doubtless had 
its influence in inducing me to prevent, as far as in my power, the 
recurrence of similar scenes. I mention these circumstances, not 
because I would have it inferred that by reason of my living on the 
sea-coast, I am necessarily the better acquainted with the art of firmly 
securing timbers together, but that I wish it understood that I know 



IIAnTVVOOl! rOLlTtClAN. 



there arc ihousandd aiiJ tons of thousands of ehip caipcntcis atul sea- 
faring men, that reserve no better fate for a ship that strikes a rock or 
a sand bank, but to thump to pieces upon it; when, in truth, there is 
no more reason for a vessel under such circumstances being broken 
asunder, than there is for a Sullivan County stone-boat to break apart 
by being pitched over a precipice ; the fate and durability of each kind 
of vessel ought to be alike, and no ship ougiit to be considered as 
sea-worthy unless her timbeis would hold togetlier long enough to al- 
low her bottom to be first worn out by the chafing and grinding of 
of the rocks and sand banks, among which she might be cast. 

In connection with the system of engineering and mathematical 
calculation, referred to in my application to Congress, I would now 
offer but a very few remaiks. The advantages of the system can best 
be ascertaiued by its practical application, and to such a mode of 
testing its efficiency, I would respectfully refer any person who is sin- 
cerely desirous of learning more about this important subject. Thero 
is not the least uncertainty about its utility ; and as to its simplicity, I 
would observe, that it is my intention to reduce the whole system to the 
capacity of any boys of fifteen or sixteen years of age, who may be 
induced to become members of the self-supporting schools, which I am 
desirousof establishing throughout our country. The system referred 
to will not allow of the errors or mistakes occurring in the ordinary 
modes of surveying or civil engineering, and the doctrine of curves, as 
can be seen, is also completely mastered by it. 

The ways and means by which a general post-office system through- 
out the United States, as referred to in my prospectus, may be cheaply 
adopted, may be seen by referring to my remarks upon the subject of 
railroads : and the institutions referred to, as applicable to these ends, 
are the self-supporting schools, which are treated of in my Newburgh 
letters. In respect to the applicability of my remarks to the condition 
of the people of Newburgh, I would briefly say, that having referred to 
certain principles or indication of principles, as a guide for their action, 
I have referred to subjects which ought not to admit of any doubt or 
discussion ; for principles, being in reality institutions of Divine ap- 
pointment, and not of man's invention, cannot be made liable to any 
fluctuation or change. My views therefore relative to the disposition 
of Washington Head Quarters, I think will be found to be as correct as 
if my suggestions had been fcdlewed throughout ; and I believe, notwith- 
standing all that has been done, that 1 can hereafter safely refer to tho 
contrast exhibited between my suggestions and those ultimately adopt- 
ed as to full proof of the correctness of my views in relation to ancient 
mementoes and revolutionary relics. I would further ask the especial 
attention of the people of Newburgh to the several subjects of improve- 



21 lIAlvTVVOOii PuHTICIAN. 

nienl which I have presented to the public, as I consider it clearly 
conducive to their particular interest to do so ; for nothing in the 
way of plank roads can bring the business to their place, which can 
be brought about by the encouragement of the several system's of 
building which I have recommended. If there is any folly in the 
matter, it will be found that it is theirs for rejecting my propositons, 
and not mine for proposing them. 

Wishing to make the future numbers of the Hartwood Politician as 
satisfactory and useful to its patrons as it can be made by my efforts, 
I intend in the second and third of its numbers, to set forth and illus- 
trate certain important principles, by which the general course of my 
proposed work may be easily ascertained. The construction of the 
term principles which has been given above allowing of no discussion 
or argument concerning them, I shall have nothing further to do, when 
these general truths or principles are set forth, but to draw inferences 
or conclusions from them. If errors of my own occur in my works, as 
they undoubtedly will, I shall be happy to admit and correct them, 
whether detected by myself or by others ; but with respect to principles, 
or what I consider such, I shall feel myself bound to adhere with all 
the strictness which becomes their solemn import. I hope, therefore, 
that all my readers will always keep up the distinction between my 
principles and my conclusions, and not class my failures with subjects of 
which it may be truly said that they have no capacity to fail. 

Among the principles which I hope to place satifactorily before my 
readers, are those which regulate the rights and duties of females, as 
members of the state ; and others which define the nature and uses of 
property, I have found it necessary to refer to the first mentioned 
topic on account of its connection with the subject of self-supporting 
schools, it being my intention to recommend that the educational or 
rather the literary pursuits of such establishments shall be chiefly en- 
trusted to females. The necessity of examining the nature of proper- 
ty arises from the kind of education which it is proposed to be afforded 
in such schools, for it is not any given quantity of arithmetic, geology 
or any other science that is proposed to be taught; but the teaching 
proposed will commence immediately with the art of getting an hon- 
est living ; and the nature of property for this important purpose 
should of course be clearly understood. The chief difference between 
this and other systems is to make the ordinary sciences of secondary ra- 
ther than of primary interest. 



liaviiig given to niv readers all iny original work wlucli wa 
pr.blished in 1850, I would further say in addition that 
in regard to the discussion of certain in[i])ortant principles 
which were proiiosed in the annexed number, to Ije investiga- 
ted in the second and third numbers of my work, T have made 
a^cliango so far, as now to propose tliat these principles be here- 
after illustrated and explained, in successive series of numbers ; 
of which series, this first treatise is to be classed as the Ijegin- 
mng of the first. 

To connect tliis first number with the second, I close my re- 
marks with an address, 
To To/op/fii heepevH^ and all otlicr ■pevmns-lniereslcdin the 

estahlish'/neiit and eiyntinuancf: of good Tavern^;, through- 

ovt the United. Stoics : 

As no action, or concert of action, has ])eeu publicly agreed 
upon, by any of our people who sire opposed to the adoption 
of the Maine Liquoi- Law, I have x)repared four numbers of 
roy paper for the purpose of showing the necessity of some 
such action : tlie first of these four numbers being already be- 
fore its patrons, I would ordy say, concernin.g the other three, 
that they are principally occupied in hivestigating the tnie 
origin of the intemperance that prevails in our country. 

By these numbers I am also prepared to show in what way 
the inn -keepers of (;ur country as a body have been most unjust 
tly and wrongfully abused for evils wliich ought with'raorg: 
propriety to be charged to their temperance opponents ; and 
have entered upoii aa examination of the general origin of all 
political evils, in order that I might show my readers that for 
the origin of intemperance and its accompanying evils, they 
must look into causes very different from any winch are under 
the power or control of tavern keepers, or of any other person,* 
who are engaged in the traffic and sale of ardent spirits. 

To make my future works of any utility to the public, I have 
felt it my duty to show l>y,what constitutional and legal man- 
uei- l)oth State and Congressional legislation might properly 
be brought to bear upi^i alMises of intoxicating liquors, and iri 
80 doing, it may be seen that I am not like many of the op- 
ponents of the Maine L!qu«>r Law, wlio |)rofess to believe that 
car State Legislatures ha\e no po^rer to legislate upou the 
subject. 

A few persons of my acquaintance, having signed .a sitb- 
scription j^aper, ot which "the following is a copy, I present this 
paper to 'the public as a piecc^ent in order to exhibit the na- 
ture of the support which I wish to rely upon in order to sc- 
Giire the continuance of my work : 

" William J. Clowes, having commenced the pul>licatior.i 
of ii :?e-'ei: of forf Ty:\mD'^e^- in relation to the illegality and 



onconstitutionality of the Maiiie Liquor Law, \ce whose namcr' 
arc Biibscribed hereto, do contiibute tovvards such |;/ablicatiou 
in tbc sevcml amounts Nrrlttcni b}' us, opposite to ourname-s ; 
to be repaid in pamphlets at the customary price of sale.'' 

I offer a copy of my first subecription paper with this ad- 
dross, because I believe that the Temperance excitement, al- 
thiTgli professedly directed against the use or abuse of intoxi- 
cating liquors, is in reality intended to bring- about the diecon- 
tinuance of all our taverns ; and because I believe it is highly 
important that some steps should be taken to oppose the insane 
movements of our temperance advocates, who under pretcnco 
of destroying the common propensity for ardent spirits, would 
at the same time, blindly destroy the main facilities of trade 
and commerce. Instead, however, of proposing "a Carson 
League'' or other illegal proceedings of the kind, I offer in the 
flnit place for public consideration, the establishment of a 
paper, to be devoted to the dissemination of sound constitu- 
tional law: this may be done by a patronage of the Hart- 
wood Politician, according to the above precedent ; and all 
sr*sn8 of a dollar and upwards forwarded to the publisher ov 
hie agents, will be promptly repaid in pamphlets according 
to juc unifoTOi price of sale. 

I consider the license or excise law of the State of I»? ew 
York, to be altogether at variance with the spirit of our gen- 
eral constitution, which gives to Congress the power to lay and 
colkict excises, which shall be uniform throughout the United 
StJites : Congress having also the power to provide for the 
general welfare of the United States, and to regulate commerce 
between these several States, have, of course, the power to 
regalat<3 all public houses, if they are for the benefit oi the 
internal commerce of the countiy ; and wdth the above power 
over excises', our general go^•ernmcnt migtt if it wonld, pre- 
vent all difficulties that have existed among us, by reason of 
improper State legislation, in relation to ooi' Inns or Taverns : 
the right and duty of Congress to legislate upon these impoi'tv 
rnt subjects, will be exhibited in my forthcoming numbere 

I have made the above remarks with a view of requedtLiig 
*jur tavern keepers as a body, to become agents for the Hart- 
wood Politician ; and in order to secure their co-operation, I 
worild further inform them them it v.ill be edited by a Coun- 
sellor at Law, whobesides other qualifications for this office, has 
bad better opportunities for an acquaintance %vith constitutiott 
a) law, than is possc'::^:.cc! by Inwj^ers in general. 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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HoUinger Corp. 
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